Balfour Beatty 155,000 fined over rail death

Balfour Beatty’s rail maintenance business has been fined £150,000 following the death of a rail worker in October 2000.

Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services pleaded guilty to breaching safety rules after student Michael Mungovan, 22, was struck by a train at Vauxhall, south London.

McGinley Recruitment Services who recruited Mungovan also pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Thursday and was fined £175,000.

Judge Stephen Krammer said: “His untimely and tragic death resulted from the unsafe system of work practices operated by Balfour Beatty and McGinley Recruitment.

“I have heard in detail the sloppy way in which both defendants conducted themselves. They fell significantly short of the standard required. I am satisfied the dangers were quite considerable”

At an inquest jury in London in 2002 returned a verdict of unlawful killing after finding that Mungovan has been given minimum training. The court was told that Balfour Beatty did not exercise effective supervision of staff supplied by the recruitment firm.

McGinley was found to have supplied workers with lower qualifications than Balfour Beatty specified, and had failed to check who was in the team.

Mark Bishop, spokesperson for Balfour Beatty said that the death was a tragedy that should never happen again.

He said that new schemes had been adopted with Network Rail to improve safety.